The Artificial Intelligence Paradox: Does Digital Progress Fuel Environmental Injustice via Transboundary Pollution?

Ran Cui, Pengfei Zhao (), Qingfeng Luo () and Jingyuan Wang
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Ran Cui: School of Finance and Insurance, Guangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanning 530007, China
Pengfei Zhao: School of Public Administration, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China
Qingfeng Luo: School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Jingyuan Wang: School of Accounting, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian 116025, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 20, 1-20

Abstract: The uneven proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) presents unexamined challenges to sustainable regional development. This study provides robust empirical evidence on how the inter-city AI gap influences environmental dynamics, specifically via transboundary air pollution. Using a framework based on the Technological Gap Theory, the results demonstrate that a wider AI gap significantly intensifies air pollution transmission between cities. The primary mechanisms are widening disparities in digital infrastructure and imbalanced flows of capital and labor. This effect is context-dependent and most severe for economically underdeveloped cities, creating a new form of environmental inequity. The analysis further reveals that while environmental regulations can mitigate this negative impact, technology-centric policies lacking green synergy may amplify it. The research’s findings offer a new theoretical lens on techno-environmental inequality and underscore the necessity of synergistic policies that simultaneously bridge the digital and environmental divides to foster equitable and sustainable development.

Keywords: Technological Gap Theory; artificial intelligence; air pollution transmission; urban agglomerations; new digital infrastructure; factor mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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